Lessons from a New Science? On Teaching Happiness in Schools (original) (raw)

‘Happiness education': A pedagogical-political commitment

Policy Futures in Education, 2016

The topic of ‘happiness education' has received considerable attention in recent years in educational discourse, not just in academia but also in the public sphere. This movement understands that there is a ‘widespread incidence of psychological harm caused by damage to the child's sense of self-worth’ (Smith (2008) The long slide to happiness. Journal of Philosophy of Education 42(3–4): 560), including damage done by the educational system, and as a response to this, it seeks to make use of ‘happiness education' to repair this damage. In the light of this, some commentators, such as Smith (2008), Suissa ((2008) Lessons from a new science? On teaching happiness in schools. Journal of Philosophy of Education 42(3–4): 575–590) and Cigman (2008 ) have criticised this ‘science of happiness' as being reductionist and not taking into account the richness of life. We join these commentators in criticising this approach to ‘happiness education' and refer to Paulo Freire&...

Should Happiness Be Taught in School

2015

Within positive psychology, the concept of well-being (happiness) represents the main criteria for positive functioning and is generally considered the goal in life to be promoted. Research in this field is providing very strong evidence that happiness brings highly desirable life benefits, such as better health and longer life, successful relationships and better work performance. The most important reasons for teaching happiness in school are high prevalence of depression among young people worldwide, the small rise in life satisfaction in the last half a century, low students’ satisfaction with school in many countries, and the synergy between learning and positive emotion. A number of studies suggest that school-based positive psychology programmes are effective in improving positive traits and wellbeing, even though reliability of these findings is still questioned. The Model for Positive Education is presented in this paper as a possible area of future research. This is applie...

Happiness matters: towards a pedagogy of happiness and well‐being

The Curriculum Journal, 2011

The role of the emotions in learning has long been acknowledged but is often overlooked. This article considers the impact one particular emotion, happiness, has on learning and the school curriculum. Recent reports have drawn attention to the importance of happiness (or the lack of it) by highlighting concerns about childhood well-being. At the same time, there is increasing evidence from psychology and neuroscience to suggest that periods of happiness are linked to personal growth, health and development. When we are happy it seems we are more likely to be receptive to outside stimuli than when we are sad or distressed. Happiness also makes us more disposed to engage in creative endeavour, which is itself another source of fulfilment. Positive psychologists argue that rather than being fixed, happiness, optimism and other positive traits can be learnt. We offer evidence from our own professional experience in teaching to corroborate these claims and to extend the debate about the relevance of affective neuroscience to education. In conclusion, we consider how a focus on happiness might underpin a positive approach to curriculum reform.

The ambiguity of happiness education in the context of positive education: A critical analysis

Laplage em Revista (International), 2021

The article aims to analyze the place and significance of happiness in educational discourse. The analysis reveals ambivalence of happiness education, following positive education patterns. The ambivalence stems from the fact that happiness is narrowed down to the first component of the following dichotomies: Subjective/objective, active/passive, individual/social. As we explain in our article, such clipped happiness education may involve the following consequences: Necessitating ‘therapeutic education’ for students; neglecting matters of social justice; imposing ideas of happiness on a child through ideological indoctrination. Yet, we can conclude that the dual potential of positive education methods makes it possible to offset the above and other adverse consequences of the promoted idea of happiness.

Should Happiness Be Taught in School? / Treba li sreću poučavati u školi?

Croatian Journal of Education - Hrvatski časopis za odgoj i obrazovanje, 2015

Within positive psychology, the concept of well-being (happiness) represents the main criteria for positive functioning and is generally considered the goal in life to be promoted. Research in this field is providing very strong evidence that happiness brings highly desirable life benefits, such as better health and longer life, successful relationships and better work performance. The most important reasons for teaching happiness in school are high prevalence of depression among young people worldwide, the small rise in life satisfaction in the last half a century, low students' satisfaction with school in many countries, and the synergy between learning and positive emotion. A number of studies suggest that school-based positive psychology programmes are effective in improving positive traits and wellbeing, even though reliability of these findings is still questioned. The Model for Positive Education is presented in this paper as a possible area of future research. This is applied framework of implementing positive psychology as a whole-school approach targeting six well-being domains, including positive emotions, positive engagement, positive accomplishment, positive purpose, positive relationships, and positive health, with a focus on character strengths.

Rethinking Schools: Education as Happiness

Arts & Education International Research Journal, 2015

The underlying assumption of any educational reform is that we can and should control measurable achievement. The entire scenario builds on a platform of causal determinism, since every effect has a cause, the causes can be tweaked to produce unique desired effects. But the targeted goals have hardly been achieved, with rote memorization and ‘textbook culture’ plaguing the system. Another striking feature of discussions around educational reform is the absence of conversation around the child’s free will and what might make a child happy. Consequently ‘school’ is being repeatedly labelled as an environment hindering a child's autonomy and creativity. The meaning and need of education goes beyond and should not be restricted to measurable learning outcomes and policies based on cause-effect rationales. The child’s happiness is a continuous component and the paramount metric of his or her education. A compatibilist attempt has been made to preserve a child’s free will within the confines of our deterministic laws. An alternative system of democratic schooling is then proposed, where the school alters itself to the child’s needs, rather than the other way round.

Happiness as an aim of education

Human Affairs, 2021

This paper explores happiness as an aim of education, particularly schooling. What role does happiness play in philosophy of education? How do critics view the aims of public schooling today and its relation to happiness? Is happiness embedded in the concept of education as an aim of education? The paper explores happiness—understood inclusively as a positive mental state—by examining the relevant literature from various disciplines. It looks briefly at critical views of current trends in public school practice and concludes that happiness is not a central concern in present public school practice. Turning to philosophy of education, the author finds that happiness has been considered in relation to the philosophical conception of the human self and consequently eudaimonia has been prioritized over hedonia. The paper concludes by proposing that happiness is an appropriate and valid aim of education and schooling based on the normative implications of the concept of education.

"Creating a Happiness Curriculum": Teaching Children How to Achieve Positive Well-Being

Creating a happiness curriculum: teaching children how to achieve positive well-being According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 11% of today's youth experience a depressive disorder even before they reach the age of 18. More and more adolescents are reporting feelings of loneliness and social isolation, both at school and in the home. Even in this digital age of technology and online communication, studies have found that depression continues to be the leading cause of disability spanning from early teenage years to later adult years. To make matters worse, because research previously did not focus on the unique onset of emotional disorders in younger patients, less information is available for proper prevention and treatment in children. It is clear, however, that this rise in negativity amongst the youth necessitates the establishment of several preventative measures. Of those that have already been discussed by experts across the globe, a prime focus on spreading "happiness" seems most unconventional, yet also the most promising. Researchers agree that early methods are key, but rarely is a full-fledged intervention ever necessary. Though existing methods have previously focused on fixing a supposed problem, my personal proposal involves promoting innate mechanisms that all humans are born with. Of these, the most important seems to be the concept of happiness. After reading extensively on the topic, I will propose through this essay rhR happiness must be cultivated in children early on, most specifically in the academic setting. A public policy goal for state governments should be to implement a "happiness curriculum" in public schools across the country. Through this, emotional disorders such as depression can be avoided, and children can become equipped with long-term skills to achieve the highest quality of life possible.

Dilemmas in Teaching Happiness

There is a burgeoning amount of research into happiness and greatly increased popular attention, so it seems logical to add a course on happiness to the university curriculum. We encountered, in developing and running such a course, a number of dilemmas that the topic of happiness makes especially acute. Should the teacher remain separate from the class, as an authority, or participate in group activities? Is the primary goal of the class to learn content or to change the relationship of students to the world? What does a mark for learning content signify if developing happiness habits is a goal? Should one goal of the class be for the teacher to be happy and, if so, does this conflict with student learning? These dilemmas reflect larger questions about the purpose of university education. This paper reflects on those questions through our experience of formulating and delivering a new university class on happiness.